


We're all mad here

by Salty_Watermelon



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Angst, Anorexia, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Eating Disorders, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Muteness, Narcissism, Nurses, Schizophrenia, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-15 02:30:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4589646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_Watermelon/pseuds/Salty_Watermelon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mental hospital - AU!<br/>Kagami has worked hard to get a job from his father's mental hospital. He gets to work at block-C where six patients need his attention. Kagami does his best to help them all to get better, but he also has a possibility to learn things from them. The only child of a rich family has never actually seen the dark side of life until now. </p>
<p>Lots of stuff happens behind the closed doors, but no one is ever allowed to hear these stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Thank you for the ride, mom," Kagami thanked with a little smile on his face as he opened the door of the white car his mother owned. The young lady looked at his son from behind his shades with a gentle, happy smile on her face.

"Have a great day, Taiga. Your father must be already waiting for you" she said with a bright voice, sending a quick, distant kiss to his child before he closed the door. The new, expensive-looking car drove away in seconds. The redhead froze at his place for a few seconds, looking after his mother, excitement bubbling inside his chest.

It was his first day at work.

For many years, he had spent his day at his table, reading hundreds of books so he could someday be able to get in the hospital his father owned. From the day he had born he had had a place to work at - because who wouldn't offer his own son a job=

For the first 11 years of his life, Taiga wasn't very interested. He wanted to be the police or a firefighter and get the girls' attention. But later working at the mental hospital started to seem more and more interesting.

And now, at the age of 21 he was finally ready for that.

The red headed male walked towards the front doors made out of clear glass. His dad, a man in his late forties stood right behind the doors, ready to welcome his own child.

Taiga looked around with his red eyes, glanced through every each detail his eyes could reach. It was so silent at the hallway. The scent filling space was sterile. His gaze couldn't reach any people despite his own father - no nurses, no patients.

He walked to the older man and greeted him with a happy smile.

"How does it feel to be finally here, Taiga?" the male asked wide smirk on his face.

"I'm really excited. I've been waiting for this so many years" he answered smiling. "I can't wait to get to work." The older man laughed shortly to his answer, placing his right palm on the redhead's other shoulder.

"I can show you the changing room. After you've changed your clothes, my best doctor will come to see you and show you this place. He'll tell you what to do, and you can ask him anything" the father told silently, without being able to stop smiling slightly. He glanced quickly at his wristwatch, clearly being in a hurry. Well, he waws the owner and leader of this whole place. It'd be a miracle if he had a day he wouldn't have to run all around the building and the whole city after meetings and gatherings.

He barely had time for his family even during his day offs.

"Son, I have to go now," he said quickly raising his gaze to the younger male. Neither of them smiled anymore. "Just go straight along this hallway, and take the third to left. Walk a few metres straight and you'll reach the changing room. Change your clothes, Hyuga will come there in ten minutes." he continued before turning his back and walking away. The redhead had no time to even say a quick goodbye and wish a good day before he had disappeared.

He sighed deep before starting to take steps towards the changing room. In no time, he reached the door and stepped inside.

There was no one there.He was able to change his clothes without anyone interrupting or staring at him.

\- - -

He looked at his long and muscular body, now covered with pale blue clothes of a nurse from the mirror. The color didn't fit him. It made him look like an idiot with bright red hair and eyes. Well, that wasn't a big matter. He didnät care what he was wearing as long as he had a job where he was able to get money

Some day he would be able to move away from home and live completely on his own.

As he walked out of the room, the doctor was already there, waiting for him. A male bit shorter than him, wearing glasses and a white coat of doctor looked at him with a straight face, holding some documents in his hands. His black, short hair highlighted his pale skin. .

"You must me Taiga Kagami, huh? I am here to show you around" he said with a straight, politic tone. Kagami kept silent for a few seconds, not being able to say anything at all, confused before he was able to get a hold of his thoughts again.

"...Y-yes" he answered shortly.

"Follow me."

\- - -

It's impossible to tell how excited one is as he walks towards the locked doors, which held his upcoming workplace behind them. Kagami could barely keep his face and whole aura calm and straight ass Hyuga picked up the keys from his pockets. "This is the C-block. This is where you will work" he started as he opened the doors and kept them open so the male could step inside. When they were both in, he locked them up again.

"We don't have many patients here right now, but there sure is a lot of work with them. Of course, they have better and worse days, but mostly... they are pretty hard patients," he explained as they walked together along the pure white hallways. Kagami couldn't help but try to examine everything around him. He had never been in a place like this. Everything was so clean and calming.

Hyuga showed him a little room next to the locked doors where all the medicines were held. Small boxes and every each of them had a name written on them. They should give the patients their medicines every morning and evening.

Right next to the medicine room was a little space for the staff, where they could eat their packed lunches and drink cups of coffee during the day if they had time.

Then there was another door that was locked up at the hallway. It was made of bullet-proof glass and had a huge black C painted on it. Hyuga opened the second door for them, let them inside.

"Welcome to the C-block. They're all mad here."


	2. Chapter 2

Followed by Kagami, Hyuga walked straight to the first room in the hallway, to the white door on te left. The door looked really strong. Breaking it wouldn't be easy. It had just a little window on it, and the glass of it was probably bullet proof. 

That is necessary in a place like this. You never know what could be happening. 

"Good morning, Midorima-kun" Hyuga greeted with no warmth in the tone of his voice. The long male with green hair was sitting on his little bed, holding a little teddy in his arms, squeezing it tightly against his chest. He slowly raised his gaze to the duo who had just walked in. With taped fingers of his left hand he tried to place his glasses better on his nose. 

The male - who seemed to be called Midorima - was so long that for a few seconds Kagami was sure that the bed was too short for him. 

"Who's the guy with you?" he asked with his low voice. The way he said it, the cold tone would have been able to freeze someone to death. Kagami's lips froze together, and he therefor was not able to say a thing. 

"He's new in here. I'm just showing places to Kagami-kun. I really hope you can get along well" he started speaking while walking in the middle of Midorimas room, starting to collect the books laying all around the floor. 

Taiga couldn't help but stare at the green haired male as their eyes met. Green eyes stared right back at him from behind his clear glasses, examining every inch of his body perfectly. 

"You," he started, asking for the new nurse's attention. "What's your sign?" 

Kagami raised his eyebrows slightly confused, but he actually didn't doubt his question for even a second. While you worked with patients like him, you came across some strange questions once in a while, you couldn't avoid that.

"Me? I'm Leo" he answered in no time. Midorima's gaze seemed to get even more intense as he still examined the redhead's appearance. It was like his mind was filled with thousands of thoughts he tried to get a grip of. 

"Interesting," his still so freezing voice said. "Leo and Cancer are neighbors in the zodiac and typically get along well as friends and colleagues," he suddenly started speaking of zodiac signs like he read it straight from some book. He had no pauses, he didn't stop for even a tenth of a second to collect words he should say. "So I do think I'm fine with you coming here," he added, finally turning his gaze away. 

With Kagami not being able to stay anything, Hyuga finally straightened his back. "Remember that the breakfast is in 35 minutes. You should brush your teeth and change your clothes before coming to the cafeteria," he said before walking past the other, back to the hallway. Redhead glanced at the guy still sitting on his bed over his shoulder before turning his back completely to him. 

"Try to avoid Aomine as much as you can! He's Virgo, as your compatibility with him is low!" his deep voice reached Taigas ears as they walked away, but he did nothing to react on his words.

...So that guy is into zodiacs, huh?

Hyuga kept silent.

So did the new nurse, as they walked towards the next room, the next white door on the right. 

The person in this room was still sleeping. Lights were turned off before the doctor in white coat turned them on, waking up the guy under the blankets. All Taiga was able to see was a purple hair coming from under the sheets. He squirmed, clearly not being very amused because of being waken up this early - the clock on the wall told that it was just 6:25 AM.

"Wake up, Murasakibara," Hyuga raised his voice to force the one back to the reality from his dreams. "The breakfast is in 35 minutes. You can't get anything if you haven't gotten yourself ready before that."

His words really have an effect on him. 

Murasakibara slowly sat up, letting the blanket just fall off from his body. Small eyes looked at the floor as long hair hung in front of his face, hiding the most of his facial characteristics. "...What is for breakfast today...?" he muttered, his speaking being just as slow and tired as his movements. 

"There's different kind of breads, and some cheese, cucumber and meat to put on top of them" Hyuga doctor told after looking quickly at one of his documents. He did have everything important written on them, and so knew literally everything that mattered right now. 

The male stood up, head hanging low, purple strands still hiding the most of his face. He didn't look at Kagami even once. He just walked past him without paying any attention to him. "...I'm gonna eat at least ten slices... I'm so hungry I could kill..." he mumbled, pure sleepiness in his voice. Taiga couldn't tell if he even was awake or if he was still asleep in some state. The redhead took a step to his left, let the male who was clearly longer than him, probably over 200 cm tall walk straight past him. 

...Jesus that man is surely strong as hell. 

Hyuga stood on his place for a few seconds before waving his right hand gently, hinting with his gestures that they should continue their little tour. 

Fifteen steps and they stood at the next door, the second door on the left. The inhabitant of this room had already gotten himself out of the bed. The bed was made and everything was on their places. It was so clean. 

"Hey, Kise-kun. Stop that!" Hyuga commanded immediately, walking straight inside. There was no warmth in his voice. His tone was so tight and pressuring it could kill. As Taiga leaned in better, he saw how the doctor walked to a blonde guy with really, like really slender body who was laying on the floor, still wearing his pajamas. He was doing abdominal crunches, but Hyuga clearly didn't like the idea. 

The patient - Kise - didn't protest at all. He let the older man help him back up, pale lips pressed tightly together. 

Taiga was able to see every each of the blonde's bones that were showing right under his skin. He was so thin he looked like one of those children in Africa, like he hadn't had any food in years. The redhead swallowed silently, keeping his face straight. The way he looked wasn't very pleasing. 

Hyuga's aggressive movements and way he wrenched the other made him feel like the male was about to break like a porcelain doll. 

Kise brushed through his yellowish hair with his bony fingers for a few seconds before he raised his golden eyes to the nurse standing at the doorway. A happy smile took over his whole face in seconds.

"You seem to be new here, huh?" he asked with his bright tone. Kagami nodded gently as the young male started to take little steps towards him, ignoring the doctor in his white coat completely. He straightened his right hand, asking for a handshake with his hand. 

Despite the way he looked, this one seemed to act like a normal person. 

"I'm Ryota Kise. You can call me Ryota, if you want to" he said with his smile widening by every second. His gaze wandered to Taiga's name plate on his chest before he made an eye connection again. "Taiga Kagami, huh? I hope you'll have fun here" he smirked.

Before Kagami was able to answer anything, Hyuga pulled Ryota back to him, forcing him to look at himself. "The breakfast is in 30 minutes, Kise-kun The nurse will come to watch that you eat everything that's given to you. After it, we'll check your weight."

Kise's smile finally disappeared. He clearly didn't enjoy when it came to eating or his weight. "...Whatever..."he just gave a silent, a bit depressed answer before turning his back. 

As Hyuga walked back to the hallway, young male gave the new nurse a little smile as he sat on his bed. Taiga finally managed to smile back at him before following his lead.

"I hope you'll have fun here." His words sounded like a sarcastic joke. 

They left him alone and continued their journey. 

Next door on the right. 

It was nearly closed, but Hyuga gently opened it with his hand. 

Kagami followed him inside the room, where a slender boy, whose appearance reminded him of a teenage boy. He raised his blue eyes to the duo as they walked in. 

"Good morning, Kuroko-kun. How are you today?" he asked, just glancing at the youngster behind his glasses before rushing to the clothes that were just laying on the floor. This doctor didn't like when the rooms were a mess. 

Silence.

They didn't get any kind of an answer. 

"This guy here is Kagami Taiga. He'll be working in here from now on. I hope you get along well," he explained to the bluenette, being unusually talkative. 

No answer.

Kuroko just stared at them for tens of seconds, before lowering his gaze. He pulled his sleeves with his fingers better on his hands, clearly hiding scarves. 

Kagami heard once again how the breakfast would be in less than a half of an hour, and how the patient should brush his hair and teeth before showing up. 

And then they walked out again. 

Kagami had no time to image any visions of what probably could have been the matter with Kuroko, what could have been his problem and why he was not willing or able to talk before they were standing at another door. 

A male, approximately almost the same size as Kagami was with slightly tanned skin was sitting on his bed, reading for some pointless tabloid. His sluggish position told that he didn't enjoy his time here and would rather be anywhere else. 

He slowly raised his gaze to the duo, pure irritation spreading immediately all over his face. He put down the tabloid he was holding and slowly sneaked closer to the edge of his bed. Sharp eyes examined the redhead's appearance thoroughly. 

"Huh?" he snorted silently. "What is that guy doing here? Does he need help with his eyebrows, huh?" he stroke him immediately with his words. Kagami raised his eyebrows slightly in enterprise, before letting a slight tone of irritation shine through his eyes. 

His split eyebrows weren't something everyone had. It wasn't very pleasing to hear a mention of them from someone who he had met just a few seconds ago. 

"Watch your mouth, Aomine" Hyuga commanded immediately with his freezing voice. "He's Kagami Taiga, and will be working here from now on. I'm showing him around," he explained. "You'd better get along well."

Before turning his back, Hyuga once again mentioned the breakfast. Aomine just growled silently for an answer before pressing his back again against the cold, white wall. He couldn't get his eyes off the new nurse anymore. And so couldn't Taiga. 

Sometimes you just were able to tell within a minute if you'd ever get along with someone. 

He was able to tell that they never would. 

"The next patient is the last one for now," the doctor muttered before entering the room. 

As Kagami stepped in, he saw how a short male with fuchsia red hair was buttoning his white blouse. In enterprise he raised his gaze to him. His eyes matched with his hair as he gave them a slight smile. 

"Good morning, Hyuga-san" he greeted them politely. The first impression this male gave to him confused the redhead. He was polite, and he just couldn't get any kind of weird vibes of him. 

He walked closer to them after he had finished his buttoning. 

"Who is this guy?" he asked with his soft voice, leaning his head a bit backwards to look up at him. Their difference in height was notable. "New here?"

Hyuga nodded, answered before Kagami managed. Once again he heard how the guy in his white coat explained how he was showing him around, how he would work here from now and how he should be getting ready for the breakfast. 

The redhead - who the most likely was called Akashi - smiled at him, not turning his gaze away for even a second. 

"Nice to meet you, Kagami Taiga" he said, looking straight into his soul with his eyes. Kagami felt a bit uncomfortable, not actually knowing what he should be saying or doing.

Hyuga resolved his problem for him, turning on his heels again. "Come drink with some coffee with me, Kagami" he requested before walking away. 

Taiga didn't doubt his request for even a second before following him. 

 

At the end of the hallway they had just been walking, was a spacious hall full of activities. There was a TV, a shelf full of books, a few tables and a lot of board games. There were three soft sofas, and materials for drawing and painting, if someone wanted to be artistic. 

A slim door lead to a small balcony. The door was locked up so no one would have any possibilities of running away. You had to always have someone with you if you wanted some fresh air. 

No belts, shoelaces, drawstrings on hoodies or sweatpants, nothing with violent images. No Manson T-shirts or gang colors, no razors, no anything else that's sharp. The list of what the visitors couldn't bring with them was long, and written on a paper on the wall.

This place was a bit more comfortable than Kagami was expecting for. It had a slight warmth of home in it, with some lacks, of course.

He was excited about this all. 

The patients seemed to be interesting, every each of them. He wanted to know more about them, and help them with their issues. The time he would spend here would be different from everything else he had ever experienced. 

"Are you coming or not?" Hyuga distracted him from his thoughts, already opening the door that lead to the small cafeteria with his keys. 

"Ah---! I'm coming!"


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting in the cafeteria, on a wooden chair Kagami slowly brought a white mug with some steaming coffee in it to his lips. He let the strong taste of deep black coffee take over his whole mouth. The liquid's hotness burned his mouth, and he had little problems at swallowing it all.

He followed from aside how Hyuga was standing a bit further away from him, pouring also some coffee for himself. He soon walked to the table, to sit on the other side of it, face to the redhead.

Taiga put a little note on how cute Junpei's mug was. Its base was deep red, but it had a picture of him and (probably) his girlfriend on it. It was taken in some amusement park, and they were enjoying balls of ice cream when that picture was suddenly taken.

As the doctor coughed silently, he also burning his mouth because of the coffee, Kagami was able to return back to reality. He raised his gaze to Hyuga's eyes, putting his mug back on the table. He'd let it cool a bit before even trying to enjoy it again.

"What do you think about this place?" he asked silently with his burned, numb tongue, he also putting his drink away from his hands.

"...It all seems so interesting," Kagami answered after three seconds of thinking. "I'm sure that this will be way more exciting than those years I spent as sale's clerk to get some money for the stuff I needed," he continued, making the other to sneer silently. 

"I'm sure about that," he smiled quickly. "But before running off to your job, I think you'd better know something about our patients," the dark haired male added, now with a pure polite tone in his voice, face gone straight.

Taiga let his face nod a bit, leaning his body tighter against the back of his chair.

It'd be important so he could regulate the way he acted due to the issues of each inpatient.

"Let's start with Shintaro Midorima," he started his explanation. "He has schizophrenia," and in just a few words he had told him the most important thing.

"He has been here already for years. And during that time, his symptoms have become worse. Of course, he has better times when he's feeling really great and it seems like there're no problems with him at all. But some days he is literally afraid of everything," he told, looking straight at the other. 

"He sees and hears things. To keep the situation calm, get him to tell you what he's being through. And play along. It might be a little shock if someone just said you about your reality that 'it's not true. You're imagining it all.'" Kagami nodded once in a while to tell that he was trying to let it all stick in his brains.

"About Ryota Kise, he has anorexia nervosa." the doctor continued with another patient's story.

"There're no other issues with him, but his avoiding of food. You have to keep your eye on him and make sure he'll enjoy his meal. And if you find him doing any kind of exercise, tell him to stop. Sometimes he might have some attacks of panic if he's having a bad day and is not amused of the way he looks. Be there for him, try to calm him down," Junpei said with the same straight, emotionless face. 

"Aomine Daiki," he continued with another name. He didn't want to keep any of his explanations too long. 

"His life has been very far from a normal one. When his parents threw him out, he started seeking for safe feeling and pleasure from drugs. When he ran out of money, he started to film porn of his gang friends and sold those tapes to anyone who wanted to buy them. Slowly his videos became more and more sick, violent, not easy to watch. When all that blood and pain weren't enough for him, he picked up three children and filmed something of them," he told, keeping his gaze locked on the table. 

"He went to jail, but after some time got out of there. But it didn't make him a better person. Yes, he left children alone. No, he didn't give up on drugs. He became really violent," Hyuga muttered. 

"There's no single diagnosis for him. He's just... We can not let him out there. You're lucky for being that tall and strong. I bet you can take him down if something happens."

Kagami listened for doctor's story with his eyes calm and curious. 

"Kuroko Tetsuya," Junpei kept on listing names Taiga had heard for the first time just some time ago. Kept telling more about the stories behind those names. 

"He's depressed. Really depressed and a threat to himself. After his father died, his mother just ran away and left him alone with his old grandmother. Day by day he got more and more depressed and slowly started cutting. When he realized that he had planned every each detail of his suicide, he forced himself to seek for help. And he came here. We've done our best to help him, but some patient's don't like him very much. And being in such a critical state, their deeds haven't done good for him. In just two weeks, he stopped talking. During the last seven months, he hasn't said anything," the male told. 

"And Akashi Seijuro," another name. 

"It seemed like he was having a good day today. But he suffers from dissociative identity disorder," Hyuga said. "He had a hard childhood. Experiencing so many awful things made him create another personality. Akashi you met today is really polite, calm and gentle. But the other Akashi is really different from him. He sees himself absolute and wants to be on top of everything, is not pleased as long as he can not rule everything. His personality can switch from that kind Akashi to that insane Akashi in just a few seconds if he feels threatened. So be careful. You often have to lock him up to his room for a while. It sometimes makes him calm down. But sometimes there just doesn't seem to be an end for it. It really is one true challenge," he continued with his straight face. 

"Atsushi Murasakibara," finally the last name. 

"He's actually pretty harmless one. He's autistic. Sometimes he can get angry if his surroundings are a pure mess, if he can't get food quick or much enough, or if there's too much noise. And when a guy with that size gets angry, you know that the results can be bad," Junpei explained, and Kagami just kept nodding gently. 

"We took him in because a friend of his works here as a doctor, and he asked for it. There's no one who would come here to see him, so he saw it would be the best if at least he would be here for him," the dark haired male added.

Taiga finally raised the coffee mug on the table to his lips. The dark liquid had finally cooled down a bit. It was drinkable. Not too hot, but not too cold. Just the perfect temperature for his burned mouth. 

"Thank you for telling me about them. I'll do my best to handle every each of them the best way" he said, lowering his gaze to the table for a few seconds. 

Another doctor who was a friend of that purple haired giant? Who was that? For how long have they known each other? 

That doctor would probably know more about every inpatient here. Maybe he could ask him about them all, could ask all the questions he had on his mind and that way get to know everyone a bit better. 

He was afraid of asking those questions from the male right in front of him, was afraid of being seen as a complete idiot. 

A silent sound made him raise his red eyes. 

"Good morning, Himuro," Junpei greeted, turning slightly on his chair towards the door. "We were just talking about you!" he gave the other male a quick smile. 

A slender male with dark hair walked in, only one eye showing. The color of his coat and cool hair highlighted his pale, beautiful face. He let a silent laughter escape from his mouth. "About me? I'm not sure if I want to know more," he smiled while heading to the coffee maker. 

Kagami tilted his head slightly towards his other shoulder, still keeping quiet, not being able to say anything. 

The guy who had just entered to room reminded him of someone. Someone he had known since they were young. Someone he hadn't met in years. 

Everything was just the same. Even his name. 

"...Tatsuya?" he was finally able to speak out after getting himself together. Hearing his name made the dark haired guy turn around, confusion in his eyes. 

"Taiga?" he responded. 

A moment of silence made both of their hearts skip a beat. 

Kagami slowly stood up and took a few steps towards the other. With every step he took a little smile took over his lips more and more. Tatsuya's calm but confused expression didn't change even a bit. 

"Well, Well, Taiga... What a surprise to find you here," he finally said with his lips curving up slightly. He couldn't get his eyes off him anymore. 

"What are you even doing here?" the redhead asked, not knowing what he should think or feel about finding his childhood friend here. 

The question made him laugh quickly. 

"I'm working here, you see?" Tatsuya smiled. 

For a few seconds, Kagami couldn't think clear. But after a while his smile evolved to a wide, really happy grin. "I'm really looking forward to work with you," he said immediately, walking closer to his friend. 

"I hope we can still get along well, Tatsuya!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this, my dears, is where this story will actually start!  
> Thank you for reading my fic, I wish you'll continue reading~ . u .


	4. Chapter 4

The next day arrived faster than expected. Taiga couldn't fall asleep last night before 2.30 AM, he just couldn't close his eyes and let strange dreams fill his mind, distract him from the reality. The only thing he could think about was everything he had experienced earlier that day. All the stories he had heard, all the scenarios he had made up of what there could be ahead for him. 

When the sleepiness finally took over him, he lost his consciousness and laid in his bed like a dead body, motionless, breathing really silently, not thinking about anything anymore. He enjoyed the softness of his bed, the warmth of his blankets for a few hours before his alarm clock welcomed him to the new day with its sharp, loud voice that forced the red haired male to get up immediately. No one in the house could stand the sound that was loud enough to wake everyone up, no matter where they were sleeping. 

With his eyelids glued together with sleep, he pulled on a white hoodie and his jeans he had left on a chair yesterday night, had left them there to wait for the next morning. He didn't have to walk to his closet, didn't have to waste any time choosing clothes in the morning. He could walk straight to the kitchen and enjoy a cup of coffee while glancing through the pages of yesterday's newspaper. 

He had time for that, thanks for the preparations he had done yesterday. 

As the clock kept on running, not willing to stop for even a while, he soon had to leave, had to cover his feet with his shoes, jump in the car and wait for his mother to give him a ride to the hospital.  
It would have been so much easier if he could have gone with his father, but no, their shifts were so different. And his father had to spend way more time at the hospital than him. He had to wake up in the middle of the night, and sometimes he came back after being away over 15 hours. 

It was pretty sad, Taiga thought as he followed with his eyes how the surroundings passed by when the middle-aged woman rushed towards the hospital with her car, with his son sitting next to her.  
It was pretty sad that it had always been like that, since the redhead was just a little kid. His father had never any time for him. He rarely was able to have holidays even a few days long. They never did anything like normal families did. They didn't travel, they didn't spend their free time together, not by watching TV, not by eating their meals together, not by playing any kind of board games. 

As the years passed, Taiga got used to spending all his time alone. He didn't anymore even know how he could have shared his time with anyone. He had grown up alone. But he still wished he had had parents that had played with him every night. 

But now he had a job where he could interact with other people. With some good luck, he could probably get some friends, too. If he had a super good luck, he could maybe even find someone who could fill his life, who he could share his future with. Maybe he could ask Hyuga or his childhood friend Tatsuya for a coffee someday, ask them about their life and maybe ask them to introduce some  
of their friends for him.

Maybe someday. 

”Thank you for the ride,” he thanked his mother as he stepped out of the car, slammed the door behind him. With now knowing where to go, he walked straight to the dressing room carrying his bag with him. He changed his outfit to his working clothes. It wasn't even 7:00 AM yet and he had already changed his clothes twice that day. It felt a bit frustrating.  
He put his bag in the locker before heading straight to the block-C. With the keys that had been given to him, he opened the locked doors. 

\- - -

”Good morning,” Taiga greeted the patient with dark green hair, sitting on his bed, just staring at the wall right in front of him, holding a brown stuffed bear close to his core. Its other ear was almost ripped off. Some of its insides were bursting out from the little hole. 

The male slowly turned his face from the wall to the nurse standing at the doorway. You could still find some slight shades of nightmares he had seen through the whole night from his eyes. Those nightmares had continued for thousand moments even after he had opened his eyelids.

The redhead tried to be calm, tried to be careful with Midorima right now. He had no idea if the patient saw him replaced with some strange creature from his nightmares. He just stood there, waiting for a response, for a sign from him to allow him continue.

With a short snort escaping from his nose, Shintaro closed his eyes which were framed with beautiful, long eyelashes. His hands were shaking as he squeezed the animal even closer to himself. Even if he felt unsafe, he succeeded on looking completely calm on the outside. Maybe it was because he was so tired? Maybe his body just had no energy to show it all he was experiencing behind his cover?

”Morning,” he responded silently, turning his face away again. After some seconds, he threw his blanket away, now placing his bare feet on the cold floor. The redhead kept his gaze at him, not letting his eyes meet anything else for even a quick second. 

”The breakfast is being served soon. I recommend you to get up and change your clothes. If you want to, you have enough time to have even a quick shower,” Kagami told with his straight face. Every word came out of his mouth like they had been from a book he had been reading every day, every night, every morning, every evening like he had been memorizing it, like it had been the only mission for his life. 

Midorima ignored his words almost completely. He just stared at his feet, thinking that he should do something for his toenails. They were slowly getting too long. In no time, they would be long enough to make a hole in his every pair of socks. Then he couldn't use them anymore. He should walk around with bare feet. And then he would get sick. 

”...Is Takao awake already?” he asked silently after a while. 

Taiga tilted his head gently, raised his eyebrows as his eyes filled up with confusement. Takao? He didn't remember meeting anyone called that. 

Was it some nickname for someone?

”...Who?” he asked for an adjustment. 

”..That idiot from the last room on the left. Is he awake?” he continued asking, not turning his gaze away from his toes. 

Kagami stood there for a while but didn't come up with anyone. ”Yeah. Everyone is already awake,” he decided to answer. 

Hearing it made the green haired male slowly stand up. He finally turned his face to the nurse, not seeing him clearly without his glasses, but he, however, tried to look at him, stare right inside his soul. 

”You can leave now,” his words sounded so cold it almost felt like the winter was getting quickly closer. 

For a few seconds Kagami hesitated. He gave him a little nod soon, and without saying a word anymore he walked away. He appreciated his privacy, let him change his clothes alone, not standing there for the whole time. 

"Oh, Kagami-kun!" a bright voice of a woman called him at the same second as he stepped out of Shintaro's room. A young woman, maybe just some years older than Taiga was almost running to him, holding a bunch of papers close to her chest. 

Being about two heads shorter than the redhead, she had to tilt his head a lot to be able to look him in the eye. She smiled with his slender lips, her dark haired pulled to the back of her head, for a long ponytail. She had no strands hanging in front of her forehead. "Could you come and help you with the breakfast service today?" she asked smiling. Kagami couldn't help but stare at her for a few long seconds. 

She acted like they had been friends for a life. But he had never seen her before? Being treated that warmly made the male freeze for a second. 

How did she even know his name? 

Okay, Hyuga had probably told her about him. 

"...Sure," he muttered a short answer, hesitating slightly. 

She smiled even more widely as he reached for his other hand with her right palm. She grabbed his wrist and started to pull him after her gently, not being able to wipe that smile off her lips. 

"Thank you so much, Kagami-kun."

\- - - 

A coffee break. 10:29 AM. Kagami was sitting in the almost empty cafeteria, holding his mug in his other hand, glancing through the newspaper of that day. His eyes found no interesting articles there. But he just needed something else to concentrate on as he was enjoying his coffee. No, he wasn't that kind of a person who could stop completely for a while, concentrate on doing just one thing at the time. 

"Morning," a familiar voice said as the door opened. The redhead immediately raised his eyes from the paper, now staring at Hyuga who walked in, wearing his white, long coat. It had probably been a bit busy morning for him. At least you could think so as you saw his black hair which was just a pure mess that morning. He apparently had had no time to even comb his hair. 

"Morning," Taiga responded, pushing the paper away from him. He had now something else to focus on. 

He followed silently how the doctor poured one cup of coffee for himself, followed his slow moves as he walked to the table, eyes filled with sleepiness. "Has everything went okay today?" he asked, sitting at the opposite side of the table as the other male. 

Kagami just gave him a little nod. "Yeah. No troubles. Everything has gone well." he said silently. 

"Mmh... That's great..." the black haired male muttered, now closing his eyes so he could concentrate better on the taste of his black, steaming coffee. 

A short silence fell between them. Even if he had said that everything was alright, he still had lots of questions on his mind. 

Who was that woman? How did he know him? What had Hyuga told her about him? Why was she acting so warmly? Was it just part of her nature?

Who is Takao? Even if he had been looking the whole morning for someone named like that, he couldn't find anyone. Was he some doctor? Or was he Midorima's sibling or something? But if he was something like that, why had Shintaro said that he lived in the last room on the left?

He glanced at the clock quickly. He had no time to ask too many questions. 

"...You know, there's something that has been on my mind for this morning," he started, still thinking what he should even ask and how he should put it in words.

Hyuga placed his mug on the table, looking at the other male with his eyebrows slightly raised. "What is it?" 

"Who is Takao?" the redhead asked after four seconds of thinking, now staring right in the dark eyes of the doctor. "Midorima told me about him today, said that he lives here, but I don't remember that I've met anyone called that. And when I went to check out the last room on the left, where he said he was living in, it was just empty. Nothing in there," he said, confusion written all over his face. 

Hyuga sighed deep and lowered his eyes slightly. "Takao, huh?" he mumbled silently. "There is no one named like that," he put his answer shortly. 

"Takao is just an imaginary friend of his. If Midorima starts talking about him, don't actually care about it, just act along," Hyuga started explaining. "We did some research as he first told us about him, Midorima's mother told us that he really has had a friend called Takao. But he died when they were both six. He got run over by a car. But Midorima never understood it. He continued living as it never happened. And maybe it never actually happened to him. See still sees his friend, he still feels him, hears him. He is real for him. And just like he said, for him, he lives in the last room on the left," a slight smile without any actual emotions was covering his lips.

Hearing a story like that made Taiga go completely speechless. He couldn't move even one of his muscles. 

"...But I think it's time to go back to work. I'll look forward to working with you today, Kagami-kun," Hyuga said as he stood up, holding his empty mug in his hand. 

He had left the cafeteria before Kagami managed even stand up. 

He didn't expect hearing something like that. 

It seems like you learn something new here about the patients every day. He couldn't even imagine what kind of stories he would hear later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meep, publishing this part happened a lot later than it was used to ;;   
> Sorry for that

**Author's Note:**

> I know this chapter is really short, but they'll get longer!  
> This was just a little chapter to get it all started ;;))  
> I hope you got interested and want to continue following my story~~ <3


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